Public service announcement warns teens about ‘sextortion’

This PSA on sextortion warns that anything private shared online could be used against you. If someone demands sexual images from you, stop immediately and report it. For more information, visit ProjectSafeChildhood.gov

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This PSA on sextortion warns that anything private shared online could be used against you. If someone demands sexual images from you, stop immediately and report it. For more information, visit ProjectSafeChildhood.gov

The three-month long investigation into the 32-year-old Denton man began after an UNCG student informed campus police, per WFMY. Five UNCG students were extorted in the scam, the TV station reported, and police say there could be more victims.

Since Kerney was arrested, more charges have been filed against him after a separate investigation found he scammed six more victims in High Point, from February 2017 through October 2018, the Winston-Salem Journal reported.

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According to High Point Police, the scam involved Kerney contacting “a female victim on Instagram,” when he would tell them about a “modeling opportunity” where they were referred to a woman named “Kayla,” WGHP reported. Kayla would get the women to send pictures that included “topless and or nude photographs,” according to the TV station.

Once Kerney had those compromising photos, he would let the women know “the modeling opportunity was a scam, that ‘Kayla’ is actually a male who is going to send the photographs to everyone the victim knows unless she gives him her Instagram information, including the password,” read a police statement in the Winston-Salem Journal.

Kerney would also tell his victims “there is no use in calling the police because he would not be caught,” the newspaper reported.

This is similar to how UNCG Police described the scam, who applauded the “bravery of these five girls that came forward,” according to WFMY.

A statement from UNCG leaders echoed those sentiments, saying “We are grateful to the victims who have come forward. It is because of their courage that we have been able to successfully apprehend and charge a dangerous individual with a a series of significant criminal acts,” per WXII.

Kerney was taken to the Guilford County Jail on Monday. He has been charged with 11 counts each of cyberstalking and extortion, according to jail records. His bail was set at $35,000 on two of the charges, and he remains incarcerated.

UNCG leaders reminded students to “be vigilant about your security on social media,” and encouraged other victims of the scam, or who know about Kerney to call the police, WGHP reported.

Police in York County, South Carolina are warning of two phone scams involving phony claims of callers to be sheriff’s deputies and another about fake arrest warrants involving nude photos.